which features a 0.007" (0.18-mm) orifice and a 0.015" (0.38- mm) mixing tube combination for quickly and accurately cut- ting delicate, complex patterns. The system’s jet stream uses an extremely fine abrasive with the nozzle, producing a kerf width as small as 0.015", and the machine also features advanced pressure controls for piercing delicate materials. OMAX’s 5/10 nozzle has been in beta-testing for two years now, and is not yet commercially available. “When you are trying to cut very thin material, our current cutting model is not quite accurate enough,” Liu said. “That’s the reason why we don’t want to release it as a product yet. At this point, we are work- ing on the program so that we can accu- rately describe it so that the customer will not have to do a lot of tweaking.” Among the main aims of the SBIR Phase II project for OMAX was develop- ment of micro abrasive-waterjet technol- ogy for automated machining features between 50 to 100 µm, according to the SBIR grant description, which cites the biggest challenge being develop- ment of nozzles with beam diameters less than 100 µm. Several issues must be resolved due to the complexity of the supersonic, three-phase, and microflu- idic flow through micro abrasive-waterjet nozzles in which, as Liu described above, capillary dominates gravity. For medical parts, the new OMAX micro waterjet has shown it cuts titanium faster than stainless, Liu said, with tita- nium cutting as much as 34% faster for skull meshes, spinal implants and other components. Another key to achieving high precision with the 5/10 beta nozzle is the new machine’s stability, Liu added. “We found that one critical area is that you must keep your nozzle stable. In other words, you cannot have any vibration. When you are cutting a very small part, any vibration will cause some wavy forma-
tion.” This waviness, similar to chatter on a CNC-machined part, is reduced with the MicroMax’s rigid, vibration-isolating design. Reducing the mixing tube size also requires substantially reducing the size of the abrasives, Liu noted. As the garnet
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